Happy 13 Cimi

12.19.12.7.6 13 Cimi 4 Tzec

Cimi is the ooh-scary death's-head skull. Oh no, I don't want to die!
Dreamspell calls it "the transformer" in a effort to disguise the concept of death. That's because we live in a society that's terrified of change and dying. We have no problem eating, even though something has to die so we can eat (to all you holier-than-thou vegans: your salad is alive and screaming while you eat it!). We just don't like to think about it, some poor cow or pig or chicken being slaughtered. We hate death. Since today is 13 Cimi, the highest Cimi number, it's a good day to think about death and talk about it.
The type of nurses I admire most are cancer nurses and hospice nurses. Most of the people they work with are going to die under their care, and yet these people are cheerful and loving as they do their work. I couldn't do it. I don't mean the gross parts of being a nurse--I mean seeing people I've become attached to slip away. I cry when characters I like die in books and movies! Nothing is sadder than poor little Frodo's face when he sees Gandalf fall into that void and he knows it's his fault because he wanted to come that way. (Even though I read the books and I know Gandalf doesn't die.)
I am not suggesting you go out and kill someone or something. But you might want to take a walk through a cemetary and have a nice visit with the dead, even if they aren't your own ancestors. Visit your pool of souls and throw in some flowers. Do a Dias de los Muertos ritual even though it's not November 1.